The Philosophy of Winning
by Sylindara
Summary: Who do you win for? Written for Character Battle 2014 on basketballpoetsociety Tumblr


**Author Notes**: I've always wanted to do something with Takao's trading card game hobby.

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><p>With the Winter Cup, then exam prep, then actual exams, then the sempai's graduation, by the time Takao found the time to go visit his favourite card game shop, it had been more than half a year since he last set foot in it.<p>

The display cases were decked out in brand new booster packs Takao didn't recognise; and the hottest new card game was something Takao had never even heard of before. The new part-timer manning the register even gave him a look of disbelief when Takao asked about his favourite card game, as if unable to accept that anyone was still playing it. Considering that its anime was still airing, it was completely uncalled for.

Luckily, the shop manager – an old friend of Takao's from when he was still in primary school – soon bustled out from the back, familiar smile wreathing her face.

"Satou-san!" Takao grinned back cheerfully. "Hey!"

"Why if it isn't Takao-kun! It's been a while, hasn't it?" The wrinkles on Satou's face deepened as she smiled wider. Even here, the position of wrinkles and the number of them were no longer as Takao remembered. "How's basketball?"

"Alright." Takao shrugged bashfully, his smile turning sheepish. "We lost in quarter-finals. Shuutoku ended at third place."

Satou nodded in commiseration, but knew Takao enough not to say anything more. Takao never talked about his basketball playing much when he came to Satou's shop. In respect of that, Satou never dug deeper. Not when Takao started coming more often during his middle school years – too often for someone in the basketball club, not when Takao stopped coming altogether at the end of his third year – to busy studying and practicing to get into Shuutoku. He'd started coming again after he entered Shuutoku, but rarely – to the point where Takao didn't bother lying to himself that he was there for the cards and not to talk to Satou.

"That is the nature of competition." Satou nodded sagely. "Precisely because you have winners and losers, people find worth in fighting for it."

"As expected of the woman who was the reigning champion for ten years." Takao sighed. "No one loses because they want to."

"Of course not," Satou scoffed. "But precisely because we don't want to lose, we do our best to win. No one wins for no reason at all."

"Yeah?" Takao raised his eyebrows, clearly not understanding. "Then what about people who don't look happy even after they won?" Akashi's cold face as he refused Midorima's handshake was still fresh in Takao's mind; as was the way he smiled through his tears when he shook Kuroko's hand, not twenty four hours later. At least Seirin looked as happy as they were supposed to after they won.

"Sometimes, people win not for reasons that make them happy." Satou looked vaguely off into the distance, making Takao wonder if she had her own Generation of Miracles, people who won for reasons that didn't make them happy and ensured that absolutely no one else was allowed to be happy either. He wasn't sure if that was even possible. Unlike basketball, there wasn't much chance to pick up trading card games for anything besides as a hobby.

"That is so stupid," Takao said softly. "Why not be happy about winning? It's such a waste."

"It is," Satou agreed readily. "Which is why you need to win, win and be happy. Not just for the people who couldn't win, but for the people who couldn't be happy as well."

"Now _those_ are the words of an anime fan." Takao quirked his lip. "Why win for anyone but yourself and your team?"

"Spoken like a true sports player." Satou inclined her head at him. "Some people play for their opponents, and are stronger for it."

"Yeah, maybe," Takao agreed vaguely. Their philosophies of play differed too much for the two of them to talk about it for long, this wasn't the first time they'd come to an impasse about this. It didn't even matter. The Generation of Miracles was no more, anyone they faced from here on out would be people who played because they wanted to win. That was enough. "Enough talk about that, it never gets anywhere; tell me about what's new on the card game scene, Satou-san!"

"Well then," Satou said with a smirk, the gleam of a salesperson shining through her eyes, "how about we start with the new booster packs…"


End file.
